The present invention relates to a connector apparatus for a switch.
In the past, a lead wire was pulled or directed out of a switch, such as a microswitch, in the manner as the disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-111655. The switch construction has a switch-side connector having a switch mechanism and a switch terminal projecting therefrom. An electric wire-side connector having a connector terminal is mounted to a terminal of the lead wire. The electric wire-side connector is fit onto the switch terminal of the switch-side connector to connect the switch terminal and the connector terminal to each other. In this way, the lead wire is pulled or directed out of the switch.
However, in the above-described conventional switch construction, the direction in which the lead wire is directed out of the switch-side connector is limited to the projected direction of the switch terminal. Therefore, the use of a switch-side connector is limited based on the situation. For example, the switch-side connector cannot be installed, if a sufficient space cannot be secured in the above-described direction. Thus there is a demand for improvement of the switch construction.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation. Thus it is an object of the present invention to allow the direction in which an electric wire is pulled out of a switch-side connector to be varied.
To achieve the object, there is provided a connector apparatus for a switch comprising: a switch-side connector having a switch mechanism and a switch terminal projecting therefrom; an electric wire-side connector having a connector terminal connectable to the switch terminal and installed on a terminal of an electric wire; a first attachment having a terminal insertion part into which the switch terminal can be inserted and a connector fit-on part on which the electric wire-side connector is capable of fitting, with the switch terminal being inserted into the connector fit-on part and with the connector fit-on part and the terminal insertion part disposed approximately orthogonally to each other; and a second attachment having a terminal insertion part and a connector fit-on part, with the terminal insertion part and the connector fit-on part disposed in an approximately straight line. The first attachment and the second attachment are interchangeable and selectively mounted on the switch-side connector.
Preferably, the switch-side connector can be provided, for example, vertically in plural numbers in such a way that the switch-side connectors can be connected to each other.
According to the present invention, the first attachment and the second attachment are selectively mounted on the switch-side connector, and the electric wire-side connector is fit onto the first attachment or the second attachment. In the case where the first attachment is mounted on the switch-side connector, an electric wire can be pulled out or directed in a direction approximately orthogonal to a pull-out position of the switch-side connector. That is, the electric wire can be directed in the shape of a letter xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d relative to the switch-side connector. In the case where the second attachment is mounted on the switch-side connector, the electric wire can be directed almost straight from the pull-out position of the switch-side connector. Therefore, the pull-out direction of the electric wire can be easily altered from the L shape to the straight shape and vice versa.
In the case where a plurality of the switch-side connectors are provided, it is possible to effectively utilize the space by directing the electric wire out of the switch-side connector in the shape of xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d and/or a straight shape.